Posts Tagged with passion

1. The Ocean. I could sit on the beach and simply watch the waves for hours. It seems to make time just slip away and I don’t even care. The ebb and flow of the waves against the sand, against my feet. The ocean brings me back to earth. She reminds me that I’m little more than a blip on the radar, an insignificant being, here for a relatively short amount of time. She has been moving like this since the beginning of time, and will continue long after I’m gone. Its very grounding and humbling to watch waves crash to shore.

2. Reading. I don’t get to read as much as I would like any more, but when I do get a chance to read I find it so relaxing and peaceful that I wonder why I don’t read more often. My time becomes limited – relaxation is just as much a part of my daily routine as the busy parts – and I just don’t think to read until it’s too late in the evening. I’m determined to read more though!

3. Spending time in sacred space. I just enjoy the serenity and calm that sitting in sacred space – alone or with my soul sisters – brings to my inner being. It is like stepping into another world, another realm, another plane of existence. It is in that space that I can truly be myself, with no external, worldly attachments. Just be.

4. Feeling financially secure. I know this seems like such a trivial thing to many people, but feeling secure with my money and knowing that I actually have some room to move with my money is truly peace-bringing to me. It’s just like it’s one less thing to worry about, you know? Knowing that I’m not scrambling for the last couple of dollars at the end of the week is just bliss.

5. Music. This is kind of like reading for me at the moment – I just really don’t get a lot of time to listen to music. “Just turn it on while you’re doing other stuff,” I hear you say. That’s not what I mean. There’s having music playing, then there’s listening to music. The latter is what I’m talking about – tuning in with the lyrics, the melody, the harmonies, the rises and falls, each instrument. Music is storytelling; it takes you to another place.

6. Quiet. This is the one that has “well, duh” written all over it. But my day-to-day is not quiet – I have two young children (almost-4 years old and 2.5 years old). I don’t get a lot of true quiet time. I love experiencing that silence where everything is so still you can hear your own heart beating, your ears ring slightly because you’re finally away from the noise and they’re adjusting, you can actually hear yourself breathing for the first time in what seems like forever.

7. Driving. I find just getting out of my living space and out on the road is peaceful for me. I love to crank up some loud rock music, particularly if I’m alone in my car, and sing along. I find it revitalising and replenishing for me – it allows me to vent my frustrations and experience some joy for a short while.

8. Dancing. So this is kind of like Driving and Listening to Music, but bare with me. Dancing has always been a huge love of mine, all through primary and high school, into my late teens and my twenties. I don’t get out to dance much any more, but once my kids are a bit older I’d love to find a class locally that I can just go along to casually and dance my heart out. Nights out with my girlfriends are always fun too – it’s so great to let my hair down and just let my body move how it wants to move – and no, I don’t care how I look!!!

9. Decluttering and cleaning. Now, again, I probably don’t do this as much as I should. But I find the physical process of decluttering or cleaning my space clears my mind and allows me to think straight again, particularly after moments of anger or frustration. I tend to go into “bitch mode” when I start cleaning – everyone knows to get out of my way when I’m on a rampage! – but by the end of it, I’ve expended some energy and, more importantly, put that energy into something productive and useful.

10. Plain ol’ chilling out. Seriously! Just vegging out on the couch, with nowhere to go, no-one to see, no makeup, still in pyjamas, watching TV or browsing YouTube or Facebook or whatever I feel like doing with my time. That time is recharge time for me; taking time out to do absolutely fuck-all is so rejuvenating. I can then look back at my day and say, YES, self-care was definitely done today, time to get some shit done.